Kids Corner

Current Events

The Children Will Lead Them

by MANDIP KAUR SANDHER

 

 

 

Ik Oankar ... All is One.

The hunger to truly understand the unity of the Creator and Creation has kept stirring within my soul. Finally, as a vigilant student of life and with Guru’s Grace, a ray of hope has illuminated my heart and mind.

I stumbled, or perhaps I should say “was divinely guided”, to a story about forty Christian martyrs. This light bulb moment immediately connected my consciousness to the Forty Sikh Martyrs - the Chaali Muktey. Could it be that these exact numbers were simply a clue to a deeper truth?

Not long after, a surprise phone call from the Gurdwara in Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) announcing that forty Christians were visiting, and asking me to make a presentation on Sikhism for them.

Guru was confirming my intuition; we are and always have been One Family.

As this Truth began to resonate within my being, more intuitive dots started to connect. Opportunities to discourse and present at multi-faith conferences began to open up. These events were “out of my scope of work” but I knew Guru was gently nudging me to learn and share. The exposure to Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Bahai and Native Indian faiths finally gave me a broader perspective that everyone had the right to practice spirituality in their own way.

I realized that the Creator simply chooses “different creative flavors” of expression through us. I learned to realize that I must “connect my own dots on this spiritual journey” and experience the world through a wider lens which would allow me to enjoy and respect brothers and sisters from various backgrounds.

When I received an invitation to celebrate World Religion Day on January 15, 2012 - organized by the local Bahais and designated to be held at a local Guelph Christian church I knew I had to involve the local Sikh community.

The Guelph Gurdwara sangat were very willing to participate in the celebration and suggested that the Sikh youth sing gurbani.

A diverse range of poetry, scripture and song was offered by the multiplicity of faiths present at the event. Each speaker concluded that God was One.

After I presented a simple message that Sikhism is about rejoicing and singing of the One, the children took center-stage. They sang the WaheGuru simran, followed by a beautiful shabad using both Allah and Raam as synonyms for the name of God.

The shabads were a perfect choice, given the diversity of the audience.

A quick inspiration as I listened to the beautiful kirtan:  “Wouldn’t it be cool to have children of many backgrounds singing together?” was downloaded into my consciousness.

Everyone agreed that the children had given them an enriching experience. Inquisitive questions were asked about the musical instruments and the children gladly explained. I realized that the children’s creative energy field allowed their playful nature to touch all those around them on that day, including their giggling during the opera, clearly an expression of singing they had not experienced before!

It was an experience for me of One Humanity ... something that will inspire us all, I pray, to unite as One and truly experience the vision Guru Nanak started.

 

January 25, 2012

Conversation about this article

1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), January 25, 2012, 1:18 PM.

Extremely moving and inspirational for all of us.

2: Kirpal Singh (Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.A.), January 25, 2012, 8:35 PM.

Marvelous example of interfaith understanding based on the vision of Guru Granth Sahib. Let all Sikhs rejoice and follow in the footsteps of these youngsters!

3: Kuldeep Vedash (London, England), January 30, 2012, 3:36 AM.

A shining example of how, regardless of which faith and beliefs one holds or follows, the path leads to the one and the same One. This is an inspirational read and enables us to see what can be achieved if we all took the time and made the effort.

4: Jagdeesh Dhaliwal (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada), January 30, 2012, 6:02 PM.

Thanks for posting this. May God bless all of us to understand that "Ek pita ekas ke hum barik".

5: Josh (England), February 20, 2012, 12:48 PM.

A very interesting and eye-opening piece.

Comment on "The Children Will Lead Them"









To help us distinguish between comments submitted by individuals and those automatically entered by software robots, please complete the following.

Please note: your email address will not be shown on the site, this is for contact and follow-up purposes only. All information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Sikhchic reserves the right to edit or remove content at any time.